#i might write more with them?? i want to explore darcy's past a little bit.

[sezja]

What I've ended up with is they're childhood not-quite-friends, but like, he's one of the only people who didn't treat them as lesser for being half-Garlean, a mage, and an unruly unmanageable mess. He kind of just treated them with the same irritable grumpiness with which he treated everyone, and that non-discrimination was enough for them to latch onto him.

They attended most of their schooling and training together, but were ultimately assigned to different legions, and fell out of contact for a while. They reunited shortly before Darcy was sent to be stationed at Castrum Centri - an assignment Mallius was 90% certain was a deliberate attempt to get them killed. When they were reported dead only a few months afterward, it came as no surprise. He mourned in his own quiet way, and largely put them out of his mind.

Like most Garleans who knew them in the past, he hasn't connected "Darcy, the Warrior of Light and Champion of Eorzea" with Darcelyn oen Dremelus, the signifer he grew up with.

It's a long time before he pieces it together.

I have a quiet weakness for this particularly cranky Garlean, Mallius. I'm thinking about incorporating him into Darcy's backstory somewhere.

[marinerainbow]

Hey ^^ I was wondering if you sometimes feel a little shy before telling someone about your OC? For some time now I have had trouble breaking down and writing anything about Melody or Darcy, especially since both of these characters are in an alternative reality. And I think this alternate reality is my biggest fear, I feel that if I presented it in the post, it might turn out to be too strange because it is so different from the canon world of WFRR.

I'm sorry for throwing so much text at you, I wanted to know what you think about it. Besides, I think that your blog is a great example that passion for creating your own ocs can be a really good thing ^^💕. So I would like to try this as well, but for now I have many doubts in my mind. (;----;)

Yeah, I do get shy about it. A lot really. I know is probably doesn't look like it, but it's true 😅 what helps me is knowing that I've got friends on here who would at least like it. Whether it be tid-bits about my AU's or characters, a whole book report of lore, or just something silly. It helps me a lot and right now is my main motivator. Though that is a big step from just two years ago when I didn't post anything more for me at all (I think that's the right time. Hard to tell).

So, I guess if you're looking for advice, try to think about what your friends might say about what you post. Even if they aren't on Tumblr, you can still show them! I'm certain they'd love to hear anything from you, like you'd are for them ^^

And as for your AU being too far from canon; that's kind of the point of an Alternate Universe. It can be as close to are far from the canon you want it to be. You can place the characters in worlds they didn't exist in. You can change the characters up themselves. The possibilities are endless! I can't guarantee that your AU will become popular in the fandom you post in, but it is your own little universe that you can do whatever you want with! If anyone gets mad at you for that, they're nothing but a troll. AU's are meant to explore what you can do outside of canon ^^

In conclusion; have fun! I know that is much easier said than done, but trust me. Once you get past this hurdle, the fandom will be your oyster. Or clam. Or whatever the phrase is XD

[carynsilver]

Favorite Fics: Darcy Edition

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Things started going on that hurt my soul, and I just felt like, who cares about some fic recs when people are getting hurt? But… I don’t know. I still find solace and comfort in reading stories, even when things are hard—especially when things are hard. So, I finally felt like maybe it was time for another. If the fic writers out there are giving me escape, warm fuzzies, and enjoyment during these weird times, then they deserve some love directed back at them.

So far, I’ve listed my top 10 favorite Stucky, Drarry, and Stony fics. I love them all, but… that is a lot of dudes. I decided it was time for a little girl power in my fanfic recs. One of my favorite BAMF female characters is Darcy Lewis—one of the best and most under-rated, under-explored characters in the MCU.

I love Darcy as the every-girl who has the moxie and chutzpa to hold her own in a life full of superheroes. The girl tased the God of Thunder because he was freaking her out, for goodness sake! I love her being BFFs with Jane, being Thor’s lightening sister, and creating a found family. I love her living in the tower and caring for all the superheroes and science geniuses like they won’t care for themselves. There’s enough leeway in her backstory for fun twists, too, like being Jewish, or—one of my absolute faves—secretly being the daughter of Tony Stark.

There are a ton of good Darcy fics out there, but these are my top 10. Thank you, writers, for sharing these amazing stories with us!

Casa de Island Avengers by @inkbert

I clicked on this story because of WinterShock (Darcy/Bucky), which is a favorite ship of mine (I feel my love of Bucky has been previously discussed at length, lol), but it has become one of my favorite fics of all time. Not even just in the MCU—if I were listed my top five fanfics ever read, this one is on the list.

The concept is simple—post-Ultron, the Avengers started falling apart as a team, so Steve spearheads the effort to get them all on a two-week vacation to Tony’s private island in a last-ditch bonding effort. Every character (except Thor, but he does get some good screen time) has his or her own point of view for at least a chapter or two. Sometimes, this leads to characters sounding the same, but @inkbert really grounds each character in their own backstory and makes their inner monologues sound unique. Then, so many wacky hijinks ensue—camping, drinking, movie nights, girl bonding, sailing, pranks, and the most competitive game nights and challenges you’ve ever seen.

The ships included are Darcy/Bucky, Steve/Natasha, Pepper/Tony, and Clint/Wanda, but this story isn’t only about the ships. It’s about all these crazy characters bonding—found family at its finest. This is probably my favorite Darcy/Jane BFFs story ever, and the Bruce/Tony science bro connection is classic. The story is fully seated in cannon (up through Ultron and moving to the ccmpound), except no Clint/secret family and Pietro lives. Read it. Read it now! And if you enjoy it, there are several one-shots that follow, including a Wanda-centric one that shouldn’t be missed.

Best Supporting Soulmate by Valeris

I love a good soulmate fic, and this is an excellent one. The first thing your soulmate says to you is written on your skin, and there are both romantic and platonic soulmates. Darcy has Jane as a platonic soulmate, but it’s her other soulmate who made her life crazy before she even met them. What are you supposed to do when your soulmate’s first words to you are to let them die? 

The two primary ships in this fic are Wintershock and Stony, which work well together, but the story delves into a lot more relationships. I don’t love the whole amnesia trope in a Stucky fic because losing all that history and friendship hurts so much, but in a WinterShock fic, I have a real soft spot for Darcy being able to help post-HYDRA Bucky learn how to person again, and she does that in spades in this one. She also cultivates friendships with just about everyone in Avengers Tower and beyond. Darcy/Johnny Storm BFFs are amazing, and the deep friendship Darcy develops with Tony in this story gives me all the feels. This is a great version of BAMF Darcy who can see what the tortured characters need and is able to help them get there. And there is some interesting conflict with the Fantastic Four, as well.

This was one of the first, if not the first, WinterShock stories I ever read. I had been trying TaserHawk, but it wasn’t really my cuppa, and then somehow found this one and got hooked.

Road Trip of Champions by @leftennant

Natasha and Steve are going on a road trip. Steve wants Bucky to come with, but they feel like they need a fourth to make things even. Natasha bribes Darcy into coming with, and over the course of the trip, we get a lovely WinterShock romance. The road trip concept is fun, and Darcy and Bucky have a light enemies to friends to lovers vibe going on. Bucky is recovering, Darcy isn’t going to take anyone’s crap, and Natasha and Steve really just want a little private time along the way. And the bit at the end of the main story when they play paintball—classic and a scene that has stuck in my mind long after reading many other fics. The protective vibe Bucky has for Darcy after all this and how it even affects paintball is adorable. There are other one-shots in this ’verse as well that should not be missed. You might never think of lemons the same again.

Daybreak by @anogete

Anogete has a really good touch with snarky, caretaker Darcy. I love all her WinterShock stories, but this is the one that’s stuck with me the most. The concept of Darcy trying to help dismantle Bucky’s trigger words by creating new memories for each one was so compelling. The therapy aspect did give me pause (a personal thing; it is dealt with as respectfully as possible in the story), but it all works out in the end. The fact that I loved it so much despite a mild personal ping with the concept speaks to how well it’s written, honestly. :-) And, if this one isn’t to your taste, Anogete has plenty of great WinterShock to read, so definitely try one of them instead!

The Run ’Verse by themonkeycabal

Though it eventually becomes a WinterShock story, my favorite thing about this universe is the Tony-Stark-is-Darcy’s-father trope. This is probably my absolute favorite version of that relationship. There is also time travel, and BAMF Peggy Carter. And even though I don’t love the Darcy-becomes-a-Shield-agent thing as much as Darcy the Scientist Wrangler, this story has a great, cannon-compliant reason for why Tony, Clint, etc., weren’t able to come help Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Maria in CA:tWS. There are a ton of stories in this ’verse, and I enjoyed every single one. My favorite, though, is the one where Darcy and Tony go visit Howard’s forgotten secret bunker and have three generation’s-worth of overdue conversations.

A Morbid Taste for Ice by sitehound

This is probably my favorite TaserTricks story, though I haven’t read nearly as much Darcy/Loki as I have other Darcy ships. I think it’s because writing Loki in character and making it believable to me that Darcy would fall in love with him, especially post-Avengers 1, is a fine line. If the fic apologizes too much for Loki’s wrongdoing without enough repentance/reformation, I don’t buy that she would legit be able to fall for him, but, go too far on the redemption and Loki gets OOC.

This story hits all those beats pretty perfectly and combines them with the whole Darcy/Jane/Thor (and now Loki) found family thing, Thor/Loki brother angst, Jane/Darcy BFFs, and a really compelling murder mystery to boot. There is also an interesting subplot with Loki being what basically amounts to a magical mechanic that I found really interesting amidst the snark, romance, and mystery solving. I’m sad this writer only has the one story up because it is so good!

Bygone by @inkbert

This story is Shieldshock (Steve/Darcy), not WinterShock, so even though I do try to only choose one fic per author (mostly), I’m totally fine having two by @inkbert on this list. Besides, this fic is amazing, and it’s not like there are anyone’s rules to follow on these fic rec lists but my own, lol! This is hands down my favorite ShieldShock story ever. 

Jane’s experiment goes awry and sends Darcy into the past—specifically after Bucky left for basic but before he shipped out and Steve got tapped for Project Rebirth. Darcy ends up living with Rebecca and Mrs. Barnes, and she falls head over heels in love with tiny Steve, so much so that they get married despite not knowing what the future holds for her. Then, the night before Steve is going to report to basic, Darcy blips out again, and when she blips back in, Steve is dead. The rest of the story has Darcy blipping her way through time, making friends with Howard, Peggy, and the Howling Commandos. Ultimately, though, it’s her brother/sister relationship with Tony that is the most poignant, especially by the time they catch up to the present again. And Darcy is a complete BAMF the whole time—going on missions, learning to fly anything with wings, doing anything and everything to keep her found family together. This story also gave me a plan for what I would do if I were ever shot back into a timeline like this where I couldn’t sew or cook or make a living—become a typist… genius, Darce!

Their Hearts Said by @anogete

Another Anogete story because I just can’t resist. All her stories are really good, be they WinterShock, ShieldShock, or even her really good Loki/OC fic. I would definitely suggest giving all of them a try.

This ShieldShock story is my favorite post-Infinity War tale. It picks up a few weeks after the snap, with everyone grieving and trying to figure out what to do next. Steve is barely holding it together while the remaining Avengers try to figure out what they can do. After Jane and her family disappear, Darcy heads to Avengers Tower, hoping against hope that maybe Thor knows what’s going on. Darcy and Steve start sleeping together as more of an escape from the awfulness around them than anything else, but as the team works on a plan to save the day and bring everyone back, they develop real feelings for each other. There is also time travel and I really loved the minimalist way she wrote how the day was saved in this. It balanced well with the character stuff. This story is much preferable to End Game—too bad cannon didn’t go like this!

Good Madness by Em_Jaye

Normally, I prefer my Darcy embedded within the MCU cannon. I adore that every girl keeping up with superheroes thing. But, I do enjoy a good AU on occasion, and this is one of my faves. It’s ShieldShock and kid!fic. Darcy runs a bakery that was left to her by her mother (real You’ve Got Mail tones there, but no creepy identity porn), and Steve comes in for treats on occasion. One day, he brings his daughter, and the rest is history. I love the Steve/Darcy romance in this one, and Steve’s daughter is a sweet character. I love the Full House thing Steve has going on co-raising his daughter with Bucky and Sam. And there is a nice Bucky/Natasha subplot and some really good Tony, which I would say more about except that I don’t want to spoil the surprise. My favorite story in the series is the five rules one at the end, so definitely keep going long enough for that. And if you like Em_Jaye’s writing, you should check out The Long Way Around—a Shieldshock, time travel, Endgame fix-it WIP that is excellent, as well.

One Year by @steeleholtingon

This story is WinterShieldShock. OT3s aren’t my favorite trope, but somehow with Bucky/Darcy/Steve, it works. Maybe it’s something about the boys’ history and Darcy dragging them into the future. Kind of what she does for each of them individually in WinterShock and ShieldShock, but with even more oomph. I haven’t read the whole tag, but One Year is my favorite.

Bucky’s Winter Soldier recovery has pushed both Steve and Bucky to the edge. Steve ends up leaving (at Bucky’s demand, but also because the team is afraid he’s going to do some kind of suicide via superhero duty if he doesn’t get his head on straight). The wrinkle—the night before he left, Darcy and Steve had a comforting one-night stand that resulted in two pinks lines on the test. The resulting story takes place one month at a time. Steve tries to piece himself back together and put his feelings for Bucky in the past whilst falling for Darcy over text messages. Bucky, on the other hand, realizes how he fucked it all up and vows to be there for Darcy and Steve’s baby while Steve is gone. Darcy navigates the waters of an unplanned (but wanted) pregnancy while balancing her feelings for both of them. And all the rest of the Avengers, science crew, and other Avengers-adjacent peeps support all three of them through it all. Angst, recovery, and a happy ending. So good!

So, after all that, what are you guys waiting for? Get to reading all this Darcy goodness! :-)

And now I need to figure out what fic rec list to work on next. I have a Stranger Things one (Harringrove and Mileven) almost ready to go, and then I need to decide what to do with the ships and characters that I don’t have a full top ten for. Group them together, perhaps? Bughead and LoVe might be a good combination, lol. And WinterHawk and WinterIron.

[darkpoisonouslove]

I’m here again. Faragonda, Sky, Tecna, and Darcy, please xD

Hi again! XD Thanks for sending more!

Faragonda:

- How I feel about this character:

I love her! She is amazing! I love that she is very patient and warm but also won't let anyone hurt the people she loves. She's a badass. She can fight her own battles and has a strong will and resolve despite her kind attitude and her desire to solve things peacefully and I think that is a great combination of characteristics. I love that she's always there for her students and is super understanding. I think she's a great headmistress.

- All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Griffin. They know each other so well and understand and respect each other. Let's be real, that would be the perfect relationship.

Hagen. I have only seen the two minutes of interactions they had in "Secret of the Lost Kingdom" so you can pretty much blame @trashcankitty12 for that since it started from her fanfiction. I just realized a few days ago that they are the sunshine and raincloud trope and I kinda like that, though, it could've been done better.

Griselda. Idk, I've seen this and I think it would work as well. Honestly, I would be more sold if we'd seen more of their relationship but I guess we'll just... have to die. 😑

- My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Griffin. Like I said, I live for this friendship. They have so much history and not all of it is pretty but they are still as close as ever. I love the fact that they've had major crises in their friendship but they still managed to get over them and trust each other. And Faragonda is so supportive of Griffin, I can't. Not to mention that they're both super protective of each other.

- My unpopular opinion about this character:

I think Faragonda is more selfish than expected. What I mean with this is that she would totally sacrifice herself for the people she loves, just as well as she would sacrifice everyone else for the people she loves. This would make sense if you look at her past, too. She most certainly went through big rejection when she discovered she was a fairy. Not only from her family, but also from pretty much everyone else in her life. So the few people that stuck with her mean the world to her and she can't afford to lose them no matter what it means for anyone else. And Marion and Oritel's death only exacerbated that thought process.

- One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish we'd learned more about her family and the time she thought she was a witch. I think that would've been really interesting and could have brought up some magical lore. Like, more about the fairies and witches and how  light and dark magic came to be (also, am I the only one who thinks we should have gotten more emphasis on Mirta and maybe seen a conversation between her and Faragonda since Mirta is the only one we know of who's been through the same thing Faragonda has?). I reaaaaaaally want to know how she handled that period. (Spoiler: I might have an idea about that and it might be morphing into a fanfic instead of the set of headcanons it was supposed to be.)

Sky:

- How I feel about this character:

Uh... Can I skip this question? 😅 Honestly, I don't really like him. He has some qualities that I like but just... No? I don't feel it.

- All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Honestly, I don't care about his romantic life. I would say Bloom, but they are the only canon ship that I really don't give a damn about.

- My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Brandon. As much as I hated their idea to switch identities in season 1, that's a sign for some strong friendship. You don't just do that with anyone and I like the fact that he's so close with someone who was supposed to be just a servant to him. We haven't seen anything about his life as a prince but I'm willing to bet he didn't have many real friends so it's good to see him have a genuine friendship.

- My unpopular opinion about this character:

I don't like his relationship with Bloom. I feel like they don't fucking communicate, like, at all! At least half, no, wait, at least 70% of their drama would've been avoided if they talked to each other and he trusted her to tell her shit. Imagine how much cooler it would have been if he'd told her that he was actually prince Sky and he was engaged but he likes her and doesn't want to be with Diaspro. And then Bloom could've sneaked on the Day of the Royals for support and because she wanted to see Diaspro and the two of them could've actually talked which would have provided an opportunity for character depth for Diaspro. Maybe she would get to tell Bloom why she loves Sky and Bloom would feel bad bc apparently Diaspro's feelings are genuine but they aren't reciprocated and we could have some quality drama there with Sky and Bloom both trying to let Diaspro down easily and after a period of adaptation they could have all been friends. Now i want to write this. *exasperated sigh*

- One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

Get some goddamn backstory! I know I say the same about all of the characters, but that's because they have the same flaw in getting no fucking backstory. How are we supposed to get this character when we have no idea why the hell they are like that? I feel like Sky could be a great character if they'd delved more into what makes him like that. Why did he feel the need to swap identities with Brendon? They said that he wanted to see what not being a royalty was like but why? Was he tired of being a prince and just wanted to be normal (in which case some backstory would have fit right in) or did he want to see how ordinary people get treated so that he could get them better for when he became a king? Just give me something about this character's life gdi!

Tecna:

- How I feel about this character:

Pretty meh tbh. She is so underdeveloped, it's painful. We don't know anything about her except that she's good with technology and smart. That doesn't make up an entire personality and it doesn't make her very relatable for me.

- All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Timmy. We get to see some emotional reactions from both of them when they're together and I like that. I just wish they'd done more with them even if in the context of their passion of technology. Just let them go on a super cute nerdy date where they go look for computer parts at a second-hand technology store or something. If they're only gonna have one characteristic, at least expand it to the point where it's believable that it's taken over their lives because they are so interested in it. There were so many possibilities.

- My non-romantic OTP for this character:

... Error 404: File not found. Honestly, her relationships with the others are so non-existent that I don't really... have anything for this category. Like, who is she closest to? I have no idea. I'm gonna say Musa, though, because: a) I think music and technology together can make some pretty cool things and b) Musa seems prone to hiding her emotions and Tecna is a bit detached from her own feelings so I feel like that could be a bonding point while they can also learn something from each other. (Man... I feel like exploring the possibilities now... Gdi! I have no time for that.)

- My unpopular opinion about this character:

I feel like Tecna's powers were very underestimated. And not just on a magical level. She is super smart and inventive and she should've been given a bigger role in a lot of the missions. Also, if any of the magical realms are anything like Earth, then Tecna could be super useful and vital to missions since everything is so technology-based. None of that was well utilized. None of it.

- One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish she'd gotten her Enchantix differently. Faragonda said that to get Enchantix they had to sacrifice themselves for someone from their planet. Yet, Tecna sacrificed herself for Layla's planet and still got her Enchantix. Now technically, there might have been a Zenithian on Andros at the time, so in saving the planet Tecna saved that Zenithian as well but that is totally not what Faragonda meant there, I'm sorry. Also, if they'd gotten her to save someone from her own planet, we could have learned something more about her and her backstory. I think it would've been better.

Darcy:

-How I feel about this character:

She's my fave Trix! I've loved her since I was little. I love that Darcy is more collected and controlled than Icy and Stormy but she can be just as terrible when she's raging. I like that her composure doesn't make her more stable than they are and she can totally flip from calm to mad in 0.03 seconds. It makes her unpredictable and allows her to fit in with the temper of her besties while she also remains different from them. I love her powers! They're so cool and I wish we'd seen more of them. I'm sure they could've made something amazing if they had messed around with her power of illusions. Come to think of it that fits well with her character, too, since she isn't patient and calm but only gives the illusion of that.

- All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Riven. Look, I know that relationship was as unhealthy as it gets, but they looked cute gdi! In an AU maybe they could've been the perfect couple.

Maybe Flora a little bit. Don't ask me why, I don't know. I just remembered I had some thoughts on this but I can't quite piece it together yet. I think that could have some cool symbolism, though, because in a way Darcy's powers are the opposite of Flora's since plants need light to survive and Darcy's powers are... well, darkness. Also, nature doesn't pretend and Darcy's magic is literally focused on deception so...

- My non-romantic OTP for this character:

Icy and Stormy. They've had less than graceful moments in their friendship but they stuck together through it all and I actually like that. It gives them some depth (which, let's be real, they were very lacking of) and I appreciated it. I feel like I prefer her relationship with Stormy since they are more on equal ground while Icy separates herself as the leader of the trio (and the worst of them tbh).

- My unpopular opinion about this character:

I think Darcy is actually a lot like Musa but their approach to feelings is different. Musa will erupt when she reaches her boiling point while Darcy is more calculating in that regard and is more likely to hide her feelings if she's after something that exploding will get in the way of. So basically, you could say Musa is more genuine while Darcy is more for pretense in the name of her goal. Musa's feelings find outlet in the harmony of her music while Darcy's cause chaos and it's an interesting opposition to work with, especially considering that sometimes their reactions can overlap. I can see how Riven can be confused as to which one of them would be better for him.

- One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish we'd gotten some backstory. What was her life like that it made her want universl domination? How did she meet Icy and Stormy and how did they become friends, considering that neither of them are exactly open to bonding? How are they connected to the Ancestral Wicthes (I mean, they can't be direct descendants so what is up with that) and how did  they get their hands on the Whisperian Crystals (also, where the hell did the Crystals go after season 1)? So many questions and no answers.

This was so fun! I got so many new thoughts! So... Ask box is still open! 😁

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Writing Update: 9-9-19

Work was a little slow this week, and will likely continue to be. I’m still catching up from being at Dragon Con last week, plus I’m in tech for the show I’m working on this week. But “Intercalation” has begun publishing and that will keep my queue going for a couple months while I work on some other projects. Thanks for following and reading!

Publishing now!

Intercalation (HBO’s Chernobyl): A Valery/Boris/Ulana fix-it fic that picks up immediately after the final scene of the show. Ulana and Boris try to re-balance their lives after Valery is viciously ripped away from them, all the while facing reminder after reminder of the people they were before Chernobyl and the people they had become together while they were there.

Excerpt:

July 16, 1987

Standing on the poisoned ground of Chernobyl, Boris and Ulana watch helplessly as the car drives away from the makeshift courthouse. They watch with their hearts in their throats and their stomachs in their shoes as the KGB drive away with their comrade in tow. Not "comrade" in the Party sense of the word. They'd perverted it. If telling a truth that potentially saved lives was punished like this, they'd perverted it. They perverted everything.

But what else was there to call it? They'd never dared name the strange shape that had formed around the three of them. Between them. Through them. A year in the crucible of Chernobyl had changed them inexorably, as the accident would change everything for kilometers around it and for years to come.

And now they were split asunder, just as cruelly as they had been fused together.

"Where are they taking him?" Ulana asks, staring up at Boris with wide, lost eyes. She looks shell-shocked. Horrified. I did this,her face says. I told him to tell the truth at all costs, and now he's going to pay. Just him. It should be me.

***

Other “Friendship is Unnecessary” fics at various stages:

But Most of All : Based off this post. In progress, currently just past the 2k mark. This is a short, upbeat, porny little one-shot of Nat being a shit and teasing Steve. Because honestly… this series needs some levity after what I’ve done in “Stolen Season.” Not sure of an ETA, but soon.

One of Those Things (Prologue): Since I’ve written this beast of a series completely out of order, and thus all my author notes are no doubt VERY confusing, I thought I’d put a short prologue on the front. Just a couple of short scenes to plant some seeds and give an actual starting place to this whole sprawling, intertwining mess, but also to give me a chance to address new readers so my forewords on the rest of the fics don’t seem weird. I’ve got a little more than a thousand words written on it which is probably about a third to half way.

Untitled Pre-War Steve/Bucky and Pre-Avengers Phil/Clint/Natasha: Partially a request from @crazyevildru that I’m toying with. Probably a flashback or a memory. This series really does need more Steve/Bucky, and I feel bad about it. I’m thinking of also adding a prequel/flashback of Clint/Phil/Natasha as well… maybe have the whole thing be a discussion over dinner post-Endgame.

Sweet and Honorable (Title pending):  Set post Civil War. Bucky insists on coming with Sam and Natasha to rescue Steve when he gets captured. This is starting to take shape in my head as a sort of work through for some of the issues that get raised in “Echo in my Soul.” Given what we know about the new Black Widow movie, I may hold off on this one for a bit. At least until I can figure out how I’m going to squirm around or ignore the added canon. (can’t wait for that movie BTW)

***

Other works coming soon!

Hymn of Acxiom: Scarlet/Vision. It would be post Endgame, with Wanda helping a newly reconstructed Vision who has no memories and no personality without the Mind Stone to network all the pieces and facets of his personality.  This is next on the docket after “Intercalation.” I’ve really only just gotten started. Sketching scenes and playing with theme. Don’t expect anything before November.

Untitled Sarge/Melinda May fic: I know. I KNOW! Don’t give me that look. You’re watching the same show I am and you’re seeing what I’m seeing. This shit writes itself. I’ve been sketching on a few things, and now that the season’s wrapped up I have an idea of what I want to do. I might crowbar in a few days just so that I can have some exploration time… sometime between (SPOILERS) May shooting Sarge and them heading for the Temple.

A Maelstrom Whirls Below: I’m toying with the possibility of a sequel to my Darcy/Eddie/Venom fic “A Room for Rent in the Fourth Estate.” A rough outline is in place, and I’m starting to sketch around on a few scenes. But right now it’s just some ideas and a few zippy one-liners. It’s starting to get some traction though! Likely won’t start work in earnest until after all this Chernobyl and Wanda/Vision stuff is done, but I’m definitely letting it percolate.

Hang By Every Word: The outline for my Stucky fic is still coming along but it will be awhile yet before I start writing on it in earnest. The basic theme (and I’m sure this has been done, but fuck it) is the undoing of Bucky’s conditioning one trigger word at a time. And each trigger word locked down a memory that HYDRA deemed integral to Bucky’s personality. And of course… they all involve Steve. So I have to write things from Steve’s point of view, and all ten memories have to be written from Bucky’s point of view, and they have to tie together into a cohesive narrative. The memories are out of order, but Steve’s timeline isn’t and… It’s a challenge. I’m still largely in the brainstorming phase… writing little snippets here and there. Nothing’s solidly taking form just yet. Again… just letting it percolate.

[jcylenz]

4, 11, 16, 19 (if you want) 😚⛄🌈

ask meme for muns

4. Can you tell us about your 5 favorite muses?

In alphabetical order, bc I can’t make an actual top list ranking them, but I still need some kind of order.

Alice Fortescue - The one baby I played the longest and in most situations and groups. My actual baby. She is the mother hen of Hogwarts, has a knack to become a martyr for the causes she believes in, she fiercely loves her friends and family and suffers I think one of the most tragic fates in HP altogether.

Darcy Palmer - (tw death) Translator and interpreter who traveled the world and fell in love with a woman high up in a gang (unknowing of all of that) that resulted in her witnessing the murder of the woman she loved, almost dying herself and her own sister getting killed in the process as well. Now she has to make her way through life in witness protection under a completely new name and identity, separated from the rest of her family while having to deal with her demons in the dead of the night.

Glenda Chittock - My tiny baby who started out with her nose in between the pages and who felt more comfortable around books than around people. She barely did anything, barely experienced everything. And then an illness of her little brother opens her eyes and makes her realize that she has to go out and try things. Ans slowly she opens up, can communicate with people more. She has a never-ending knowledge that she always spurs out at people whenever she is nervous. She first works for the Daily Prophet as a journalist, and then eventually realizes that while her rambling doesn’t work in writing, she can’t get her points across, in a medium where she can talk, she can be captivating and interesting, hence why she starts doing her own radio show - which is the only canon fact we know about her.

Heidi Bergen - (tw abuse) Oh boy, where do I even start. This baby went through so much shit in her life to get to where she is. Happy first few years, then being separated from her dickhead father and older brother, her mother practically abandoned her little sister and her so she had to raise her sister. All of this turned into anger that she didn’t know how to handle, isolating her from everyone except for her own sister. She was angry at the world and the world was angry right back at her. She found a release in boxing, but the attitude and the need to push most people away remained - while also clinging to any romantical partner she had with tooth and nail, desperate to find somebody who wouldn’t leave her in the end. Resulted in her being in an abusive relationship that she could barely get out of and after she ran off to halfway across the country to make sure she is really far away from the dude. She’s a kickass criminal defense lawyer and in different versions of her she was either fighting with any kind of clients or specifically protecting crime syndicates.

Isabel de la Vega - My narcissist, self-centered merm whose backstory resembles the little mermaid’s story in many ways, but is so completely different from that fictional character. She arrives to Soapberry, a town where the supernaturals can openly walk around and be themselves, running from her past mistakes and failures and tries to make a new life for herself while also having a superiority in her, a constant need to be right, be the center of attention and not share anything personal about herself.

11. Can you tell us about your favorite ship?

Uhhhh, why are you doing this to me? How am I supposed to choose just ONE? I’m going to cheat and say top 5 here too because I’m horrible and can’t be helped. In alphabetical order, bc I can’t make an actual top list ranking them, but I still need some kind of order.

Alice Fortescue/Amos Diggory (@theeriinyes) - my first Alice ship that started out as a kind of “oh we won’t go there because it’s not canon” and ended up with us absolutely going there because we couldn’t help it. They grew up together, fell in love slowly. He was a playboy, she was the mother hen. He wanted nothing more than to keep his family safe, she wanted to fight in the war beyond reason or logic. They loved each other more than anything and it’s been years and years and I’m still not over them honestly. They had a baby in the mids of the war and after Alice suffered the fateful ending of hers, Amos visits her every day, hoping that she’d wake up one day and remember him and their family. And now lemme just go and weep.

Ariel/Eli - My first ever big otp in RPing. Ariel was my OUAT indie who was struggling with having her memories back, dealing with the real world and the fairy world being so different and wanting to leave Storybrooke to explore and have adventures while not being able to because of the border-amnesia thing, while Eli was a wandered who had a shadow inhabiting his body since he was a kid, they were one and a same at this point and the two of them accidentally met and fell in love and oh boy was it beautiful. I loved them so freaking much and even though I’ve lost touch with the player of Eli since then and it took me incredibly long to even find Ariel’s old blog, I still think about them sometimes and weep over how beautiful they were.

Darcy Palmer/Diego Chavez (@diegojaimechavez) - Honestly they came as a surprise I think to both of us because we originally planned to have a completely platonic relationship between these two, but then they both went and had feelings for one another and there was no stopping them. “Enemies” to friends to lovers where they were forced to work together considering Diego was charged with keeping Darcy safe, so even though they were constantly fighting with each other, they couldn’t just stay away due to their situation, and then slowly they started opening up to one another and realizing their own errors and finding the good and lovable in the other and now they are dummies in love who refuse to admit or say it out loud but still have such huge trust and respect for each other that nobody is breaking that.

Carlota Fuentes/Gianluca Romano (@pedrazamaria​) - I mean, any of our babies could be on here, I could have really just made a list of top 5 just out of our babies but I restrained myself lol. But these two. One is the daughter of the leader of a huge gang while the other is a drug dealer in said gang. They didn’t really notice each other until one night they hook up and then they fall in love without meaning to. One never really looked for love but found it with him, the other was never considered worthy of love until she came along and they were happy. And then shit went down, torture and hatered and misunderstanding and they are pulled apart and for years they barely even interact, only for a family tragedy to bring them close again. Him hurting her on accident, without intent, and then her hurting him back in ways she knows would cause most pain because she is trying to protect her heart. It’s a mess, it’s tragical, they probably should stay away from each other, but they love each other too much to not gravitate back to each other sooner or later.

Alice Fortescue/Evan Mulciber - Unfortunately I can’t tag anyone here either, and I know this looks weird and unnatural to anyone who knows just the tiniest bit about the Marauders Era, but I swear it worked and it was beautiful. Alice was the one who would give the benefit of the doubt to anyone, Evan was the misunderstood antihero, ruthless to most but fiercely protective over those whom he considered family. They dated and were arranged to be married. And then the Mary incident happened and Alice broke things off, but the arranged marriage stayed. They were platonic, but Alice still saw the good in him and he still considered her family. He was impulsive and she tried to think through things, he was blamed for so many things he didn’t actually commit and she saw through the lies and knew he wasn’t to blame. It was complicated and simple all at the same time. And as weird and strange as this pairing sounds, I loved them so, so, so incredibly much.

16. How long have you been roleplaying?

It’s really fucking insane to write it down, but it’s been close to 10 years now. I started RPing around the end of S1 of Vampire Diaries. It was on LiveJournal, I brought Anna back from the dead and played her in a Hungarian RP. After that, I transitioned to Tumblr and did an Ariel OUAT indie for a long while before I fell into the world of groups and the rest is history.

19. What do you miss about old roleplay? (Roleplay before 2017?)

The amount of time I had to dedicate to it. I actually started working in 2017, before that I was in uni and high school and I remember having so much more time on my hand. And with that I miss the speed that I could move plots along. These days a lot of the time I can only get through my replies and then I already have to go to sleep or have other things to do, while before I could just do back and forths almost daily and that was so great. (Then again, back then my replies were mostly like one paragraph long, now I prefer long-ass paras, so that might be a contributing factor in it too.)

[bbclesmis]

The Guardian: Les Misérables' Andrew Davies: 'I haven't added much sex to it. Sorry to disappoint'

Britain’s greatest transformer of literary classics on his BBC One adaptation of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece

We’re just minutes into our interview and already the conversation has turned to brothels and sadomasochism. But perhaps this is not entirely surprising. Sauce is, after all, Andrew Davies’s trademark. As Britain’s greatest transformer of literary classics into raunchy, bodice-busting primetime TV, Davies is the man who added incest to War and Peace, put daddy-issue sex into the backstabbing Westminster drama House of Cards, and reinvented Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice as a wet-shirt-clad Colin Firth. None of those things, purists note, appear in the original texts.

Despite all these achievements, the 82-year-old writer never quite managed to smuggle his steamiest offerings into the nation’s living rooms. Take his adaptation of Fanny Hill, the 18th-century “memoirs of a woman of pleasure” that became one of the most prosecuted and banned novels. “This is a pornographic book,” says Davies. “There are lots of whips and sadomasochism – and I did try a couple of more explicit brothel scenes. But one works with a producer and a script editor, and they might say: ‘Um, we don’t think this is quite right for the BBC, Andrew.’ And so OK, it was worth a try.”

Speaking with Davies, who lives in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, is not unlike watching one of his dramas: innuendo and humour keep appearing, to spice up the serious and the considered. Conversation can quickly take on the slight sensation of romp, like when he talks about visiting sets. “I tend not to go much during filming,” he says. “As the writer, you don’t have a job so you’re hanging round like the spare prick at a wedding. I’ll go a couple of times, arrive before lunch, tell the actors they’re brilliant, and then leave shortly after.”

It’s easy to forget his advancing years: Davies has a mischievous laugh and still writes every day. But the biggest difference between now and when he started out comes whenever he goes to an award ceremony. “I’ve got a bad back,” he says, “so I don’t do as much dancing.”

As we speak, he is excited about Les Misérables, his much-heralded adaptation of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece of the 1832 Paris uprising. Three years in the making, and about to headline BBC One’s new year schedule, the series is spread over six hour-long episodes and boasts a principle cast of more than 100 – including Dominic West, Olivia Colman and David Oyelowo. The aim, clearly, is to be every bit as epic as the original 1,400-page novel – and, possibly, to banish memories of Russell Crowe bursting into song in the 2012 Hollywood musical version.

“Our tagline is ‘nobody sings’,” says Davies, who has won five Baftas and two Emmys. “It will be interesting to see how fans of the musical react, because I think they will be surprised by how much of Victor Hugo’s original story never made it into the musical. There’s so much more to it than many people know: about the cat-and-mouse relationship between Javert and Jean Valjean, and about Fantine and her early life – her happiness before the misery. We have explored all that. We’ve done it properly.”

The big question is of course this: how has he sexed it up? There have been rumours that Dominic West’s rear end gets an airing. He laughs. “You know, I do think sex is a huge motivation in a lot of these great 19th-century books but not so much in Les Misérables. I don’t think I’ve put a great deal in that wasn’t there. I’m sorry to disappoint.”

In reality, Davies rarely disappoints. He is a master of his craft. His gift lies in taking complex, sprawling novels and, while retaining the original spirit, boiling them down to something fast and fierce, full of fun and frolics. In his adaptations, nothing is sacred. Classic scenes are hacked away and completely new ones added, while beloved characters get killed off early or just never appear.

In House of Cards – his 1990 take on Michael Dobbs’ novel about Tory party skullduggery – he decided he wasn’t keen on the story’s original ending. His solution? To reverse it entirely and have the bad guy win. Dobbs liked it so much that, in a re-released edition of the book, he did likewise. When Netflix transferred the drama to Washington for a new US version in 2013, it followed suit.

“I think we all have this feeling when we’re reading a book: ‘Oh, I wish they’d written a scene between this character and that character.’ Or: ‘I wish this person wasn’t quite so prominent.’ And for me, it’s a question of being alert to those feelings, then writing them in. I do what I would like to see and hope the audience goes with me.”

Generally, it does. His credits read like a best of British TV and include definitive Dickens adaptations of Bleak House and Little Dorrit (in which the reclusive Miss Wade was transformed into an insatiable lesbian). Then there was Tipping the Velvet, complete with taboo-busting dildo revelry, not to mention Sunday night favourites Mr Selfridge and Doctor Zhivago. Among his fans is none other than Vladimir Putin: the Russian president said 2016’s War and Peace “captured the Russian soul, the epoch and the depth” of Leo Tolstoy’s original. “I’m certainly no fan of Putin,” says Davies. “But I’m happy enough he’s a fan of mine.”

He hopes Les Misérables, which has been made by the same team, will receive similar international acclaim. While writing it, he found himself surprised by its relevance, finding parallels between 19th-century France and the world in 2018. “This huge difference between the haves and have-nots still exists,” he says. “People are taking to the streets in Paris right now, but the inequalities are here in Britain too. And you wonder if anything has been learned. We had a very grand BBC launch in Piccadilly and it was pouring with rain and you had beggars sitting there on the wet pavement with nothing as we tiptoed past them in our best clothes and went in for a champagne reception.” He seems momentarily troubled. “There is a huge irony there. I see it, but I don’t know what can be done.”

Davies is rumoured to be the highest-paid screenwriter in the business but he comes from a background more aligned to the have-nots. Born in Cardiff, the grandson of a miner, his main dream as a young writer, he once said, was to “go to London, get drunk a lot and have loose women”. His first TV play, called Who’s Going to Take Me On?, was broadcast when he was 29, yet it was another 21 years before he became a full-time scriptwriter. In the meantime, he moved to the Midlands with his wife, Diana Huntley, had a couple of children and taught at schools and universities while continuing to write screenplays.

In a way, the teaching was a great apprenticeship. “I spent years trying to bring these classics to life for students,” he says. “In a sense, doing it on screen is just a grander, more expensive way of doing a lecture.” He chose to focus on adaptations, he has said, because his original works were always autobiographical – and this was a problem. “I live a very quiet life. There’s not very much to write plays about.”

His most famous work is perhaps 1995’s Pride and Prejudice, a Jane Austen retelling so filled with life, lust and laughter that it revolutionised costume drama. “We wanted to show that these were young people with all the same passions that we have,” he says. “They weren’t just bonnets.”

He is currently working on a new Austen adaptation. Sanditon, which will begin filming in spring, is a reworking of her great unfinished work about the transformation of a fishing village into a seaside town. ITV has described it as “lavish”. “She only wrote 100 pages or so,” he says, “which I’d used up midway through the first episode. So the rest I’ve had to make up. It’s been a blast.”

Yet there have been critics of the project. Some have asked if it is still appropriate for a man to transform the work of a woman. The word “appropriation” has been used. “To adapt a novel,” he says, “whether it’s by a man or a woman, it doesn’t matter what sex you are. You just have to know a lot about novels and a lot about adapting – which I do. You know, Sarah Waters didn’t have any problem with me doing Tipping the Velvet, which is not only by a woman but about lesbians. And I’m not one of those either. Will people say you have to be a murderer to write a convincing killer? It’s barmy.”

Sanditon is not the only thing he’s working on. He may be in his 80s but Davies hopes this decade will be his most productive yet. Another project is his upcoming version of A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth’s majestic novel set in post-colonial India. It will be the BBC’s first drama featuring an entirely non-white cast.

Another is a series based on John Updike’s Rabbit novels, which may be Davies’s first work made for a streaming service. “It’s early days but that might be on the cards,” he says, mentioning both Netflix and Amazon as potential platforms. “It would be a thrill.” And neither, I suggest, is averse to turning up the phwoar factor. “I know,” he says and gives that mischievous laugh one last time.

• Les Misérables starts on BBC One on Sunday. (x)

[edgarwseidel]

Will Brazil Lead A Recovery In Deepwater Drilling?

Introduction

The Pre-salt arena, discovered only a decade ago, contributes an increasing share of Brazil’s daily oil production. In the graphic below, you can see that there is a steady ramp up in Pre-salt production since 2009. You can also see a slow, but steady decline in other sources.

Source

With the scandals and political strife that have become the stuff of legend in the last decade, Brazil finds it again needs external sources of capital to supply its oil requirements. In furtherance of that goal, it has been auctioning off attractive blocks, and happily pocketing the Dinheiro that the IOCs (International Oil Companies) offer up for them.

Why drill in deep water?

This is a fair question. With all the press that the American shale has received in recent years, the Deepwater arena has been neglected. Deepwater drilling has fallen by the way over the last few years, largely due to the front end cost. The rigs needed to drill in this environment were very expensive, and when added to the ancillary services used across the life of the wells, made the overall proposition uneconomic for the oil companies.

Deepwater is a necessary part of the energy basket that modern society will need to make sure that it is adequately supplied with power. To understand why it is helpful to know that not all hydrocarbon reservoirs are alike. So, to further the discussion, I will discuss the topic briefly below.

I will start by defining some terms to help you understand the points I will make below.

· Clastic. This refers to a type of petroleum reservoir comprised of detrital sediments that accumulate over time; typically sandstone. Shale is also a clastic, but its grain structure is so tightly compressed that it has little or no matrix permeability.

· Matrix permeability. This refers to the rock’s flow characteristics and is measured in Darcy units.

· Stimulate. That’s what fracking is — an attempt to massively increase the near-wellbore flow characteristics to increase production from the well.

Back to our question. Why drill in Deepwater? The short answer is that if you want big discoveries, you must drill in prolific reservoirs that are capable producing thousands of barrels per day for a long period of time, reservoirs that are typically the target of DW exploration. Part of the reason for this is that many of these DW reservoirs are clastic (sandstone) and have some matrix permeability already. What this means is that unlike most shale reservoirs, where the permeability lies in tiny, vertical fractures, sandstone reservoirs have at least some horizontal connectivity back to the well bore. When you stimulate (frack) this type of reservoir, the increase in permeability is huge, literally achieving gains of 1,000s of times. Part of the reason shale is so drilling-intensive is that it lacks that horizontal permeability. Fracking overcomes this for a while, but in the end — usually two to three years usually — Mother Nature takes over and these wells play out.

OK, that’s it for the tech stuff. If you want more you’re going to have to take a class. If you didn’t understand any of this, then I will ask you to take my word as an industry veteran — and the word of virtually every major oil company on the planet — that DW is where the big finds are.

Tool Box Talk

What is the Pre-salt? It consists of oil formed from depositional activity in basins formed by the breakup of the super-continent of Gondwana 300 hundred million years ago. In modern times these deposits lie beneath a thick layer of evaporite salt and is further overlain by additional sedimentation, and of course about 6,500 feet of water.

Source

It is a massive resource that is likely replicated to a large extent in West Africa as the graphic above reveals. In Brazil, it is estimated that the Pre-salt runs from Santa Caterina to Espirito de Santo, a distance of some 800 kilometers. It may also be as much as 200 kilometers wide.

Petrobras has drilled a number of wells in the Pre-salt and has not hit a dry hole yet (a fact which might account for the strong IOC interest in this play). This resource was originally declared so basic to Brazil’s oil independence that it was restricted to Petrobras. Over time, the capital cost to develop these fields led the ANP, the Brazilian oil regulator, to open the Pre-salt to IOCs. Which brings us to the recent auctions.

The success of this auction, Round 15 in particular, might also account for the relatively mild showing in the recent U.S. GoM auction that yielded only a $124 million for a record auction of 77K acres. By contrast, the Brazil auction net the government $2.4 billion in hard currency. In short, each auction had many of the same players, and clearly, the big money was tied up in Brazil.

Who got what in Brazil’s 15th Round?

Source

ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil (XOM) and partners were the big winners and snagged 8 blocks to add to the 10 blocks captured in the September 2017 round. Clearly, XOM who needs to start ramping up reserves replacement, and has not operated in Brazil before is on the board now. Exxon was so confident in one block, CM-789, that it paid a record $853 mm for that block alone.

Source

Why was Block CM-789, so special to XOM and partner Petrobras? Perhaps it was the fact that the Paleocene, turbidite depositional mechanism creates the potential for huge finds. This geology is similar to the West African structures it has tapped offshore Angola and Liberia. It has further similar acreage offshore Ghana. Perhaps they dream of a reservoir that will deliver the Erha-type performance it found offshore Nigeria- wells making twenty-thousand BOED.

Turbidite describes a depositional state characterized by a high energy environment that often yields clean, high quartz reservoirs capable of delivering wells with flow rates as high as 20-30K BOPD. These wells can produce for many years.

Source

Exxon’s interest is surely also drawn by the tantalizing proximity to some of the Pre-salts biggest finds to date, Lula. Shown above in orange. It also near another new Petrobras operated Mega-field that has just come online, Libra. Libra is shown in gray in this graphic. Libra has been estimated to contain between 8 and 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil. With reserves potential like this, XOM’s interest in block CM-789 comes into sharp focus.

Source

Note in the graphic above that this block is directly adjacent to the Pre-salt polygon, originally reserved for exclusively for Petrobras.

Source

This is a structure identified as a “lead” in the ANP Roadshow prior to the lease sale. In the paste below, you see a lot of wonderful anticlines (an upward folding of the rock, with the oldest sediments at the center) that are famous for forming stratigraphic traps for oil accumulation. The ANP has helpfully pointed out in blue what might appear to be hydrocarbon accumulations just under the salt.

Source

Was what XOM saw here worth almost a billion dollar front-end investment? Time will tell. One thing is for sure. With a billion on the table, exploration drilling will begin shortly. Even Exxon doesn’t park that kind of money for very long. I see a rig getting a contract soon.

Chevron

Chevron, (CVX), picked up four new blocks. It was the first time in a number of years CVX had participated in the Brazilian play. It has other Deepwater operations in Brazil’s offshore market, key among them the Frade (FYI- “D” makes a soft “g” sound in Portuguese) project. You may recall CVX and Brazil had a bit of a dustup regarding oil leaks from shallow flows on Frade, that to senior CVX execs being slapped in jail for a weekend. There’s nothing like a night in a South American jail to cool the ardor of oil execs for a particular country. Time heals all wounds, however, and CVX is back in Carioca-land. Perhaps with a new set of execs.

Source

You can see that CVX has been treading water the last couple of years, with reserves being markedly down since 2014. So back to Brazil, and Deepwater exploration it came.

Shell

Shell has operated in Brazil for nearly 30-years. It has a considerable infrastructure already and is in a good position to develop the blocks it picked up in round 15.

Shell picked an additional 4-blocks in round 15. Those, with the 6-blocks it picked up last Fall give it a total of 18 exploratory blocks to probe for oil and gas. It plans drilling on the highly prospective Gato do Mato (Jungle cat) block in 2019.

Repsol

The Spanish oil operator could use some reserves addition as well. It has been treading water largely for the last several years. This particularly true when the recent suspension of their license in Vietnam to drill the CRD project is taken into account.

Source Chart by author

Statoil (STO), BP, and Wintershall, Division of Germany’s (OTCQX:BASFY), were all winners in this auction as well.

Summary

With billions of dollars in leases laid out, these companies are not going to be sitting on their hands. They need to replace reserves… badly. That’s the reason for the interest in the Brazilian Pre-salt. Drilling will start soon, as these companies look to start capitalizing on the huge down payments they’ve made here.

Over the next year or so we should see some DW rigs returning to service, and starting the cycle for other service providers to follow.

Author’s Bio.

Dave Messler is an oil industry veteran who maintains a consulting and training practice called, ACME Fluids Training. More info can be obtained at www.acmefluidstraining.com.

In addition, he writes for a financially oriented blog site called Seeking Alpha, under the pseudonym The Fluidsdoc. There he runs a Market Place investing service known as The Daily Drilling Report. More info on this can be obtained at https://seekingalpha.com/author/fluidsdoc/articles#regular_articles.

  The post Will Brazil Lead A Recovery In Deepwater Drilling? appeared first on Drillers.

from Updates About Oil And Gas https://drillers.com/will-brazil-lead-a-recovery-in-deepwater-drilling/

[darkpoisonouslove]

Valtor and Griffin parents headcanon. I love your works. The way you write is sublime😍

Oh, wow, thank you so much for the kind words and this sweet request!

Let's set this in an AU in which Valtor ran away from the Ancestral Witches with Griffin and the two are left to live in peace after they helped end the war. Now my personal headcanon is that Darcy is their daughter so I'll go with that but most of these can probably be applied in general as well:

- Valtor is worried when Griffin doesn't feel well and when he uses his magic to check up on her, he finds out she's pregnant. Griffin suspected as much but didn't really want to entertain the possibility before she could be more certain what's happening to her because she didn't want to disappoint them both.

- What is more, Griffin is worried about what kind of parent she'll be. Her mom was a very warm person and even despite that, the way the world treated her brought out the worst in her and she turned more and more to darkness, evil and mayhem until she joined the Ancestral Coven and almost helped destroy the universe. She's scared she'll make a terrible mother and that was a part of the reason why she didn't really want to confirm that she was pregnant.

- Valtor has his own doubts about being a parent. His own upbringing was a total disaster and there was nothing healthy about it. He didn't know what love is before Griffin and he has a lot of demons to battle and a lot of ingrained habits that he needs to shake off. He has to be more open and in touch with his emotions and not push upon his child any unhealthy ideas that were forced on him. He and Griffin have a conversation in which they promise each other that they'll be there for one another and keep each other in check.

- Despite having a ton of doubts about himself, Valtor is very enthusiastic about being a father and helps Griffin with everything he can during the pregnancy and after she gives birth. He's changing diapers and dressing the baby (Griffin and he agreed to use as little magic when it comes to caring about the baby as possible because they want Darcy to feel that they're there for her). He even gets up in the middle of the night instead of Griffin to let her rest when he can get the job done although Griffin is the early bird and he is usually the one who has a hard time waking up in the morning. But he’s happy to be there for both of his girls.

- Darcy has her room decorated with Dragons Lights - little sparks of dragon fire that are enchanted to light up when she’s awake so that she’s never left scared in the dark and the room always looks warm and comforting to her. The Dragon Lights stay even after she’s outgrown her fear of the dark because without them it won’t feel like home.

- Darcy displays strong magical abilities from an early age and Griffin and Valtor make it a point to include magic in their activities to help her control her powers. That also hides its risks though. Griffin and Valtor are forced to put an inhibiting spell on Darcy that keeps her from teleporting so that she doesn’t end up in the middle of a busy street or squashed in a machine. They do manage to teach her responsibility and safety when using magic in time, though, and soon she’s not teleporting away from them but uses her powers to help around the household.

- Shapeshifting is mastered from early in her childhood for it was successfully incorporated in games of tag. They start with an animal of Darcy’s choice and every time someone else becomes it, they all shift into another animal. It helps her get used to the feeling of shifting, learn to stay in control, master many different forms, and improve her speed and duration of the shapeshifting process. It’s also a lot of fun running around in a wolf or bunny form or flying as a raven or an owl.

- Hide-and-seek becomes much more intense and challenging when everyone has the power of illusions. Darcy’s illusions can’t compare to those of her parents at first and they dampen their magic to allow her to participate on an equal level and find them after all. But she soon develops her powers and it is her who needs to hit the brakes on her magic for her parents to be able to catch up. She becomes so good at illusions that it’s a good thing that they taught her to be responsible with her magic and not use it for whatnot or to hurt others and make her parents’ job harder.

- For one of Griffin’s birthdays Darcy makes an illusion that has all the known stars that have existed incorporated in it for her mom to be able to enjoy them all because she knows how much Griffin loves astronomy and the cosmos. She spent months memorizing star maps in order to be able to create the illusion and both Griffin and Valtor are left speechless by the complexity of it.

- Darcy and Valtor train with the Dragon Fire powers which she inherited from him. Griffin is a bit worried that they might hurt each other since Darcy is inexperienced and Valtor’s ego sometimes makes him forget he needs to hold back (he’s hurt her a few times when they used to spar or argue in the past) but Darcy surprises with precise control from early on and Valtor shows amazing restraint (so much so that she can see his muscles tensing with memories of him being hurt by his mothers while he’s trying to never subject his daughter to the same). Darcy becomes super good with using her Dragon Fire powers to the point where Valtor doesn’t have anything to teach her anymore and any further knowledge she needs to acquire herself.

- Darcy knows about her father’s demon form but hasn’t seen it. She wonders if she has one since she shares his DNA but Valtor assures her she doesn’t which might have been more of a disappointment in the edgy phase of her teen years but seeing how closed off he is about it convinces her that it is not something to wish for. She asks him to show it to her, though, because she wants to know all parts of her father and that includes his demon form. After a long discussion with both of her parents, Valtor finally agrees. Darcy is a bit shocked by the difference that is in him but she says she loves him nonetheless because even when he appears to be a demon, he isn’t one in his heart. He will always be the caring and present father that raised her and helped her become who she is. The one thing she does like from the demon form are the big demon wings, though.

- Darcy had a fascination with wings from an early age and would study all insects with wings she could get her hands on. Unfortunately, she was literally getting her hands on them and not all that carefully, too, so that resulted in a lot of torn off wings and dead insects in her hands which always made her cry. It did provide a good opportunity for Griffin to teach her a lot of healing spells that can be applied even to insects if you have enough control of your magic to use it on such small scale. Darcy was determined to not cause more destruction and death to the creatures that fascinated her so she learned to exercise enough control over her magic to be able to fix the smallest of injuries in the tiniest of species. That allowed her to study them without killing them.

- She also loved to study birds (especially in flight) but they were harder to come by and catch for detailed explorations (but at least that kept her from killing any of them). When she grew up a bit and learned to fly and control her magic, she befriended a crow that would always come near her and flap its wings around as if inviting her to join it in flight. She did once and the two flew around the sky like old friends with the crow even showing her some bird maneuvers that Darcy could copy when she shapeshifted into a crow herself. That later became a regular occurrence.

- The wing fascination might have started from Faragonda’s fairy wings on one of her numerous visits. She was pretty much Darcy’s fairy godmother (even if Valtor did not allow for that to become an official term) and Darcy loved to grab at her sparkly wings while she was a baby and Faragonda held her. Luckily for the fairy, her wings were much stronger than those of the insects so Darcy couldn’t rip them off or damage them. They always drew the girl’s attention, though, and she made herself “witchy wings” with her powers of illusion when she was nine or ten. They were dark purple and shimmered like starts on the night sky. Later, when she became older, she switched to flying around with dragon wings sprouting from her back. They were just an illusion, of course, but she was proud to be the bearer of the Dark Dragon Fire and her father’s daughter.

- Darcy loved all the animals and constantly dragged some stray kitten or dog home. Sometimes a squirrel, a hedgehog on occurrence, once even a snake. Neither one of her parents were very happy about it. Especially when one of the cats got three times the size of a regular cat and destroyed half of the furniture. None of them tried to inhibit Darcy’s connection with nature, though. It was a thing to be expected since she had Dragon Fire burning inside her and it was the substance of all life so all life was drawn to her (and Darcy might have helped her father reconnect a bit with nature himself since he was never allowed to explore that part of his powers and who he is). The establishment of some ground rules was necessary, though, to keep any and all incidents with wild animals to a bare minimum.

- Griffin would bake cookies or other sweets quite often when Darcy was little but she only used natural sweeteners to make sure her dabbling in the kitchen wouldn’t have negative effects on Darcy’s health. Cooking soon turned into a family exercise since Darcy was curious to learn how to make her own cookies and Valtor didn’t mind spending more time with his wife and daughter no matter what activity occupied them during that time. Griffin deemed it a great opportunity to teach them both some cooking skills so that they wouldn’t have to starve to death without her.

- Griffin and Valtor used to read and tell Darcy legends about the magical dimension and fill in some gaps with their own personal stories when they were in pursuit of some of the most powerful artifacts. That taught Darcy a great love for words and adventures and she spent quite a lot of time with her nose in a book when she learned to read.

- That happened at an early age and later on she built on that knowledge by studying magical languages that would allow her greater resources for spells. She knew a lot of languages (some of which didn’t even exist anymore) before she even turned fifteen. And all of that of her own volition. Neither Griffin, nor Valtor forced her to do anything.

- When she became a teenager, Darcy inevitably started using some teen slang that Griffin just shook her head at while Valtor was the one to find it rather distasteful and express his dislike of it. Darcy told him he was being old-fashioned which resulted in Valtor starting to use slang as well, much to Darcy and Griffin’s annoyance. They had to beg him to stop and become the old old-fashioned Valtor again.

- Darcy has a very open relationship with both of her parents that includes a lot of communication and trust. She knows she can tell them everything without being judged. Her parents are flawed people as well and know what it is to make mistakes which is something Darcy takes comfort in because she knows they're not perfect and they understand that she isn't either. She knows they will listen to her and try to help her avoid making mistakes she will regret later just as she knows that they will let her make her own decisions and allow her to find herself and be her own person.

I have to go to a lecture so I’ll have to leave it off here. Besides, I wrote down all I can think of right now. Hope this makes you smile. I sure had a lot of fun with these.

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Writing Update: 9-2-19

I have returned from DragonCon! Time to start editing and working on new stuff!

***

Publishing next Monday!

Intercalation (HBO’s Chernobyl): A Valery/Boris/Ulana fix-it fic that picks up immediately after the final scene of the show. Ulana and Boris try to re-balance their lives after Valery is viciously ripped away from them, all the while facing reminder after reminder of the people they were before Chernobyl and the people they had become together while they were there.

Excerpt:

July 16, 1987

Standing on the poisoned ground of Chernobyl, Boris and Ulana watch helplessly as the car drives off. Watch with their hearts in their throats and their stomachs in their shoes as the KGB drive away with their comrade in tow. Not "comrade" in the party sense of the word. They'd perverted it. If telling a truth that potentially saved lives was punished like this, they'd perverted it. They perverted everything.

But what else was there to call it? They'd never named the strange shape that had formed around the three of them. Between them. Through them. A year in the crucible of Chernobyl had changed them inexorably. As the accident would change everything for kilometers around it.

And now they were split asunder, just as cruelly as they had been fused together.

"Where are they taking him?" Ulana asks, looking up at Boris with wide, lost eyes. She looks shell-shocked. Horrified. I did this, her face says. I told him to tell the truth at all costs, and now he's going to pay. Just him. It should be me.

She clearly expects to be chastised. Boris knows that look. He's seen it in his subordinates before. And if he's being honest, he is somewhat angry with her in this moment. He does blame her at least in part for what happened, but he doesn't have the heart to lay into her. The fight is gone from him. He'd warned her before and that was enough input from him on the matter. If the look in her dampening eyes was any indication, she would blame herself for this for the rest of her life. 

And besides. It was Valery's choice in the end. And it had been Boris who'd made sure he got to make that choice. He was as culpable as she.

***

Other “Friendship is Unnecessary” fics at various stages:

But Most of All Because They Offend Thee: Based off this post. In progress, currently just past the 2k mark. This is a short, upbeat, porny little one-shot of Nat being a shit and teasing Steve. Because honestly… this series needs some levity after what I’ve done in “Stolen Season.” Not sure of an ETA, but soon.

One of Those Things (Prologue): Since I’ve written this beast of a series completely out of order, and thus all my author notes are no doubt VERY confusing, I thought I’d put a short prologue on the front. Just a couple of short scenes to plant some seeds and give an actual starting place to this whole sprawling, intertwining mess, but also to give me a chance to address new readers so my forewords on the rest of the fics don’t seem weird. I’ve got a little more than a thousand words written on it which is probably about a third to half way.

Untitled Pre-War Steve/Bucky and Pre-Avengers Phil/Clint/Natasha: Partially a request from @crazyevildru that I’m toying with. Probably a flashback or a memory. This series really does need more Steve/Bucky, and I feel bad about it. I’m thinking of also adding a prequel/flashback of Clint/Phil/Natasha as well… maybe have the whole thing be a discussion over dinner post-Endgame.

Sweet and Honorable (Title pending):  Set post Civil War. Bucky insists on coming with Sam and Natasha to rescue Steve when he gets captured. This is starting to take shape in my head as a sort of work through for some of the issues that get raised in “Echo in my Soul.” Given what we know about the new Black Widow movie, I may hold off on this one for a bit. At least until I can figure out how I’m going to squirm around or ignore the added canon. (can’t wait for that movie BTW)

***

Other works coming soon!

Hymn of Acxiom: Scarlet/Vision. It would be post Endgame, with Wanda helping a newly reconstructed Vision who has no memories and no personality without the Mind Stone to network all the pieces and facets of his personality.  This is next on the docket after “Intercalation.” I’ve really only just gotten started. Sketching scenes and playing with theme. Don’t expect anything before November.

Untitled Sarge/Melinda May fic: I know. I KNOW! Don’t give me that look. You’re watching the same show I am and you’re seeing what I’m seeing. This shit writes itself. I’ve been sketching on a few things, and now that the season’s wrapped up I have an idea of what I want to do. I might crowbar in a few days just so that I can have some exploration time… sometime between (SPOILERS) May shooting Sarge and them heading for the Temple.

A Maelstrom Whirls Below: I’m toying with the possibility of a sequel to my Darcy/Eddie/Venom fic “A Room for Rent in the Fourth Estate.” A rough outline is in place, and I’m starting to sketch around on a few scenes. But right now it’s just some ideas and a few zippy one-liners. It’s starting to get some traction though! Likely won’t start work in earnest until after all this Chernobyl and Wanda/Vision stuff is done, but I’m definitely letting it percolate.

Hang By Every Word: The outline for my Stucky fic is still coming along but it will be awhile yet before I start writing on it in earnest. The basic theme (and I’m sure this has been done, but fuck it) is the undoing of Bucky’s conditioning one trigger word at a time. And each trigger word locked down a memory that HYDRA deemed integral to Bucky’s personality. And of course… they all involve Steve. So I have to write things from Steve’s point of view, and all ten memories have to be written from Bucky’s point of view, and they have to tie together into a cohesive narrative. The memories are out of order, but Steve’s timeline isn’t and… It’s a challenge. I’m still largely in the brainstorming phase… writing little snippets here and there. Nothing’s solidly taking form just yet. Again… just letting it percolate.

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Writing Update: 8-26-19

There will likely not be an update or a chapter published this coming Monday as I will be returning from DragonCon that day. But thankfully it comes at an opportune time in a way. “Intercalation,” my Chernobyl fic, will have time to sit and think about itself but I’ll still have plenty of editing time before I start publishing on Monday September 9.

And if you’re at Dragon Con, say hi! I’ll likely be in the High Fantasy or the Filk tracks if I’m not just bouncing around the con like a crazy person.

***

Publishing now!

Stolen Season (Friendship is Unnecessary): Complete! Steve/Natasha vignettes during Endgame’s five year jump. I thought I would do a set of scenes, some sexy some not, of how we get from Steve and Natasha working together at the end of IW, to them halfway living apart at the end of the five year jump. It also covers some of the hunt for Ronin!Clint, Steve taking up the mantle of group therapist, and Natasha stepping up as a sort of hybrid of Cap and Nick Fury. Definitely a trip to angsty-town, but I promise to fix it in the end.

Excerpt:

"Thought you weren't going to make me dinner." She said, pulling her tank top over her head.

"Pretty sure I can make a peanut butter sandwich without poisoning you. And besides. Your stomach was growling." He set the sandwich and mug of tea on the edge of the tub.

A contemplative frown cut across Natasha's face as she fumbled her way free of her leggings and socks. "You cut yours corner to corner too?"

Steve lifted one shoulder. "No, I just noticed you did it that way."

The smiled a little then, her thoughts clearly flying far afield. "Coulson taught me."

"Taught you what?" he asked with a perplexed look.

"Proper peanut butter sandwich technique."

***

Other “Friendship is Unnecessary” fics at various stages:

But Most of All Because They Offend Thee: Based off this post. In progress, currently just past the 2k mark. This is a short, upbeat, porny little one-shot of Nat being a shit and teasing Steve. Because honestly… this series needs some levity after what I’ve done in “Stolen Season.” Not sure of an ETA, but soon.

One of Those Things (Prologue): Since I’ve written this beast of a series completely out of order, and thus all my author notes are no doubt VERY confusing, I thought I’d put a short prologue on the front. Just a couple of short scenes to plant some seeds and give an actual starting place to this whole sprawling, intertwining mess, but also to give me a chance to address new readers so my forewords on the rest of the fics don’t seem weird. I’ve got a little more than a thousand words written on it which is probably about a third to half way.

Untitled Pre-War Steve/Bucky and Pre-Avengers Phil/Clint/Natasha: Partially a request from @crazyevildru that I’m toying with. Probably a flashback or a memory. This series really does need more Steve/Bucky, and I feel bad about it. I’m thinking of also adding a prequel/flashback of Clint/Phil/Natasha as well… maybe have the whole thing be a discussion over dinner post-Endgame.

Sweet and Honorable (Title pending):  Set post Civil War. Bucky insists on coming with Sam and Natasha to rescue Steve when he gets captured. This is starting to take shape in my head as a sort of work through for some of the issues that get raised in “Echo in my Soul.” Given what we know about the new Black Widow movie, I may hold off on this one for a bit. At least until I can figure out how I’m going to squirm around or ignore the added canon. (can’t wait for that movie BTW)

***

Other works coming soon!

Intercalation: A Ulana/Boris/Valery fix-it fic for HBO’s Chernobyl. 88k words and it is DONE! Ten full chapters and an epilogue. It’s been challenging since this fic has lots of moving parts. I have finished my first pass of edits, and will be letting this one simmer for a little while so my beta-readers can chew on it. It’s a continuation picking up just after the trial showing both the arcs of the characters moving forward as well as how they all grew close over their time in Chernobyl. There’s a lot of character exploration… and one or two honest to goodness physics lectures which I’ve been getting help from an actual physicist and story enthusiast, @cactusowl, to write. First chapter will be published Monday September 9!

Hymn of Acxiom: Scarlet/Vision. It would be post Endgame, with Wanda helping a newly reconstructed Vision who has no memories and no personality without the Mind Stone to network all the pieces and facets of his personality.  This is next on the docket after “Intercalation.” I’ve really only just gotten started. Sketching scenes and playing with theme. Don’t expect anything before November.

Untitled Sarge/Melinda May fic: I know. I KNOW! Don’t give me that look. You’re watching the same show I am and you’re seeing what I’m seeing. This shit writes itself. I’ve been sketching on a few things, and now that the season’s wrapped up I have an idea of what I want to do. I might crowbar in a few days just so that I can have some exploration time... sometime between (SPOILERS) May shooting Sarge and them heading for the Temple.

A Maelstrom Whirls Below: I’m toying with the possibility of a sequel to my Darcy/Eddie/Venom fic “A Room for Rent in the Fourth Estate.” A rough outline is in place, and I’m starting to sketch around on a few scenes. But right now it’s just some ideas and a few zippy one-liners. It’s starting to get some traction though! Likely won’t start work in earnest until after all this Chernobyl and Wanda/Vision stuff is done, but I’m definitely letting it percolate.

Hang By Every Word: The outline for my Stucky fic is still coming along but it will be awhile yet before I start writing on it in earnest. The basic theme (and I’m sure this has been done, but fuck it) is the undoing of Bucky’s conditioning one trigger word at a time. And each trigger word locked down a memory that HYDRA deemed integral to Bucky’s personality. And of course… they all involve Steve. So I have to write things from Steve’s point of view, and all ten memories have to be written from Bucky’s point of view, and they have to tie together into a cohesive narrative. The memories are out of order, but Steve’s timeline isn’t and… It’s a challenge. I’m still largely in the brainstorming phase… writing little snippets here and there. Nothing’s solidly taking form just yet. Again… just letting it percolate.